We are pleased to share that Inayatullah Din’s latest article, titled “Paths of Ponies: Labor, Logistics, and the State in Modern Kashmir,” is published in the volume The Coveted Mount: The Horse in South Asian History, edited by Pratyay Nath and Ranabir Chakravarti (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2026), pp. 311–330.

Abstract: Locked within the rugged terrain of the western Himalayas, Kashmir has been a territory of desire for different powers. Its lofty mountains have evoked two contradictory images in the present times: one of peace, solitude, and escape from the modern world, the other of death, danger, and destruction. A profoundly politicized place, Kashmir is tied to the nationalist rhetoric of India, Pakistan, and China, who have fought four major wars and been involved in countless skirmishes over it. The perspectives of these sovereign nation-states have dominated how this region should be viewed and how its ecosystems, institutions, places, and people can be conceptualized. During the last decade, many anthropological and historical works have emerged that offer a different discourse, successfully moving past the rhetoric of nationalist histories.

At the same time, the historiography on conquest, political expansion, and state-formation has moved beyond its focus on the world of soldiers and armies and explored the role of labourers and animals. Animal history, in particular, has seen notable developments over the last few decades.

The article is available to read here.